Sunday, May 14, 2017

Books to Understand America: A Bibliographic Odyssey

L.K. Advani’s juggernaut across India in a motorized chariot in 1990 reshaped India’s politics for decades to come. Donald Trump’s stunning victory in US Presidential election in 2016 was epochal. Advani’s chariot ride evoked a wide spectrum of discussions and conversations but, unlike America in the wake of Trump’s victory, no academic output to interpret or contextualize the event. That is the key difference between the two rambunctious democracies.

A vast majority of Indians have no knowledge of their own country’s history, ancient or modern, beyond the pathetically elementary episodes they learn in school. The academic output of India, particularly in the popular history or popular publication market, pales into insignificance compared to the rich and varied output in US.

Indians carry their incurious nature as a second skin to any country they emigrate to. It is not uncommon to see Indians, irrespective of how long they live in US or UK, to have a churlish attitude towards the lands that they emigrated to and refuse to depart from. Intellectual incuriousness is not a malaise unless the person unmindful of it starts spouting inane opinions with little understanding. They mistake that watching CNN or Sky News makes them well informed about a complex society. It is as stupid as an American who might think he understands India by watching Zee TV or any of the hundreds of local variations.

There’s an America that’s to be discovered through a rich bibliography selection. Based on the books I’ve bought, and read some, over the many years here’s a list that could be useful for any curious mind that seeks an answer as to how a motley group of colonies in 1776 willed itself into a nation and over two centuries became a land of prosperity, hope and opportunity for millions, not to mention creating unprecedented economic prosperity, a military that is formidable and completely dominate university rankings. Here is the America that earned my love and respect.

I’ve arranged the bibliography by topics. This is a sprinkling of a selection that any decent reader can use to form an opinion of USA. I’ve ensured that large tomes do not dominate and mostly kept the list to the moderately difficult to read.

Before a comprehensive list here’s a short list of recommendations:

The metaphysical mind: A story of ideas in America — Louis Menand.

The radicalism of American Revolution - Gordon Wood

Ideological origins of the American Revolution - Bernard Bailyn

American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence - Pauline Maier

The great American university:Its rise to preeminence its indispensible national role, why it must be protected — Jonathan R. Cole

The idea factory: Bell Labs and the great age of American innovation — Jon Gertner

The fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery — Eric Foner

This republic of suffering: Death and the American civil war — Drew Gilpin Faust

Parting the waters: America in the King Years 1954-63 — Taylor Branch

Gideon’s Trumpet: How one man, a poor prisoner took his case to the US Supreme Court - Anthony Lewis

The paranoid style in American politics — Richard Hoftstadter

The passions and the interests: Political Arguments for capitalism before its triumph — A.O. Hirschman

Free to choose - Milton Friedman

The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and other immigrants forged a New Economy — Thomas K. McCraw

The Dead Hand: The untold story of the cold war arms race and its dangerous legacy — David Hoffman

Looming Tower: Al Queda and the road to 9/11 — Lawrence Wright

Black Flags: The rise of ISIS — Joby Warrick

Gunfight: The battle over the right to bear arms in America — Adam Winkler

The populist explosion: How the great recession transformed American and European politics — John B. Judis

Science and Education:

Little do many realize that America’s dominance of tertiary education is far more than its military dominance compared to other countries. The story of US is better understood by approaching through a learning of its education system, the battles over science and scientific innovation.

The great American university: Its rise to preeminence its indispensible national role, why it must be protected — Jonathan R. Cole

The Chicago school: How the university of Chicago assembled the thinkers who revolutionized economics and business — Johann Van Overtveldt

The marketplace of ideas: Reform and Resistance in American University — Louis Menand

The closing of the American mind - Allen Bloom

In defense of a liberal education — Fareed Zakaria

Emperor of Maladies — Siddhartha Mukherjee

Polio — David Oshinsky

The social transformation of American medicine: The rise of a sovereign profession and the making of a vast industry — Paul Starr

The devi in Dover: An insider’s story of Dogma V. Darwin in small-town America — Lauri Lebo

Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s continuing Debate over Science and Religion — Edward J. Larson

5 comments:

Pazhavalli
said...

Thanks for the list. I have just read a couple of books in your long list and intend to read many more, but was planning to read "ROOTS: The Saga of an American Family". Wouldn't that book fit into the above list?

"Intellectual incuriousness is not a malaise unless the person unmindful of it starts spouting inane opinions with little understanding." I wonder if the cause of lack of curiosity is the predisposition to form opinions without learning or thinking. From whom and where did we inherit it?

For those of us who cannot go through the long list of big books can try to read our kids' textbooks on history.

Please provide a list of movies and documentaries that would help too.